I’m rewatching some older sitcoms and the laugh track is so odd to me. I remember thinking nothing of it growing up, but now that I’ve been watching sitcoms without it, it feels completely pointless. Who thought it was a good idea and why?
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Many sitcoms still record in front of a live audience, so the laughter isn’t exactly “artificial” – but laughter from one bit of the show might be used in a slightly different bit to meet production needs. For example, say the first take of a scene gets a big laugh but there’s a technical problem that means you need a second take: the audience already knows the punchline! So naturally the laugh won’t be as big. It’s not really “dishonest” or artificial, IMHO, to use the laugh from the first take in the broadcast version.
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